A Thesis Submitted to the School of Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences, Postgraduate Programs Directorate

Abstract

Soil degradation caused by erosion threatens agricultural production in many regions of Ethiopia. Though various soil and water conservation (SWC) measures have been introduced and practiced by farmers, the extent of their adoption and sustainability is not clear. This is also true of Chingo watershed of Anlemo woreda and it is with this understanding that a study was proposed and conducted to assess the adoption of introduced SWC practices and their effect on selected soil properties. A total of 175 smallholder farmers were selected randomly to collect primary data. Tobit model analysis at household level was used to analyze physical and socio-economic factors that affect the use of SWC measures. Soil samples were taken from 16 farm plots for comparison of plot with conservation measure and farm plot without conservation measure and to establish relationship between adopters and non adopters. Semi structured questionnaire was used to collect other relevant data and secondary data were collected from various documents. Results showed that the adoption of introduced physical soil and water conservation (PSWC) measures had more positive impact on adopters than non adopters. On plots with level soil bund and stone bund, there was an average increase in crop yield in the lower part of the plot, as compared to the upper parts and crop yields increased by 23.3% compared to the situation of land without bunds. Adoption of SWC practice increased farmers’ bread wheat and faba beans yield by an average of 11.15% and 10.65% respectively. Thus, SWC has resulted in substantial improvement in farm yields. It is, therefore, recommended to educate farmers regularly, consider farmers’ opinions to rehabilitate degraded agricultural lands through the implementation of PSWC measures in order to increase their productivity to a significant level.